Spotswood College Alumni

THOMAS'S NEW ENERGY COMPANY:
A big well done to Thomas Wiseman (2004-2008) who has established a new energy company "BlueGreen Frontier".
Thomas is the general Manager of TIS (Total industrial Services).
The new company works as a collective where they harness the power on solar panels and sell it to its customers.
Well done Thomas.

ETHAN WINS NATIONAL RADIO AWARD:
A big congratulations to Ethan Griffiths (2016-2019) who won the "Best New Talent- Journalist" award at the NZ Radio & Podcast Awards held in Auckland last week.
Ethan is a political reporter with Newstalk ZB, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. He joined NZME as a print journalist in 2020, previously working as an Open Justice reporter in the Bay of Plenty and Wellington, and as a general reporter in Whanganui.
Well done Ethan.

800 TRUST WINS NATIONAL AWARD:
A big congratulations to Darryl Egarr (1989-1993) and his 800 Trust on winning the "Best Hi-tech Solution for the Public Good" category at the 2026 NZ Hi-Tech Awards function held in Auckland recently.
Darryl is the co-founder with Nick Heslop of the "Hark" predator monitoring system that is run by a solar panel and is self-loading.
This new technology will assist Towards Predator Free Taranaki achieve the national goal of being predator free by 2050.

THIRD SOLO TRANS-TASMAN YACHT CHALLENGE WAS A NIGHTMARE FOR GRAEME:
After two previous successful solo trans-Tasman challenges, New Plymouth Yacht Club member Graeme Francis's (1970-197?) third attempt could easily have become a tragedy. Thanks to Graeme's preparedness in having all of the right equipment on board he managed to survive the night and make it safely back to NZ. Read his story.

WELL DONE BRYCE BARNETT MNZM (1968-1971):
The well respected local businessman and philanthropist Byrce Barnett has stepped down from the Taranaki Foundation.
The citizens of New Plymouth owe Bryce a huge thank you for what he has contributed back into the local community and will continue to do so in the future through his philanthropic work.

The Alumni Trustees recognised Byrce's community service this year when he was awarded an inaugural Alumni Trust Meriti Service Award.
Bryce has a strong sense of loyalty to his hometown and this is reflected in his community involvement and his desire to give back. Bryce has supported individuals, schools, regional sports teams and events e.g: Womad, TAFT, etc. He has shown strong leadership in chairing community organisations such as the Taranaki Helicopter Trust, Puke Ariki Trust and the Taranaki Foundation. Bryce and his wife Delwyn recently provided funding towards Destination Kawaroa and the new lodge at TOPEC.
He was awarded the MNZM in 2018 for his services to governance and philanthropy.

MARK'S NEW VENTURE:
In early-2025, Mark Louis (Year13, 1992) sold the last of his four hospitality businesses.
For nearly 30 years he was a long-term hospitality manager.
Mark and his wife Helen have recently taken over the management of the Fitzroy Beach Holiday Park with 15 cabins and 107 camp sites. Good luck Mark & Helen with your new venture.
The Taranaki Daily News published a full front page story on Tuesday 5th May. here is the link to read:

Same role but dif­fer­ent job | Taranaki Daily News Mark Louis is return­ing to famil­iar ground, although this time he’s deal­ing with tents and camper­vans instead of tables and bar stools. The long-time hos­pit­al­ity busi­ness owner, along­side his wife Helen, has taken over man­age­ment of the...

THE ICONIC ROLE OF DELORIS VAN CARTIER:
Great to see Elicia-May Hitchcock(nee:Nahi 2000-2004) continuing her stage work this time with the Hawera Repertory Society performing as "Deloris Van Cartier" in the show "Sister Act".
The show will be staged in the Hawera Memorial Theatre from 24 June to 4 July.
Elicia-May is well known for her musical work with numerous Operatic and Repertory societies across Taranaki.

BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES- SEASON 12:
The Season 12 episode 1 of Brokenwood Mysteries staring Neill Rea (1984-1988) will screen on TV1 and TVNZ+at 8.30pm on Sunday 10th May.
The Brokenwood Mysteries consists of 54 x 2-hour murder mystery telefeatures. The series airs on TVNZ One in New Zealand as well as Acorn TV (USA), France 3 (France), DR (Denmark), Italy (Giallo) and Nine Network (Australia).
The Brokenwood Mysteries is set in a seemingly quiet fictitious country town where the town’s newest resident, Mike Shepherd, finds that murder lurks in even the most homely location.
Neill Rea(Scarfies, Legend of the Seeker, Go Girls) stars in the lead role of Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd while Fern Sutherland (The Almighty Johnsons) plays Detective Constable Kristin Sims.
Neill was recently awarded a Spotswood College Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award. (Photo below).
https://www.facebook.com/BrokenwoodMysteries/

EMMA'S PAINTING KEEPS RAISING FUNDS:
A big well done to Emma Watson (2021-2025) who in 2007 painted a picture of a Ferrari so it could be auctioned to raise funds for Camp Quality.
When Emma was 2 years old she was diagnosed with T-cell leukaemia - a rare and aggressive bone marrow cancer. Since then, Emma has endured 2706 medical procedures.
When Emma was 8 she was an ambassador for the Child Cancer Foundation and was asked to draw a picture of a Ferrari to be auctioned by a local Ferrari owners club. What Emma didn't know is that each year the painting is re-auctioned.
Emma attended Camp Quality for 8 years and this year went back as a volunteer companion.
The Daily News published a full front page article on Emma's story.
Click on the link, then click on "Car painting a gift that keeps on giving".

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ANZAC DAY 25 APRIL, 2026:
Since the College was founded in 1960, over 30 ex-Spotswoodians have completed deployments either with the Air Force, Army, Navy or Police forces in the following regions:-
Afghanistan, Bosnia, Egypt, Iraq, Korea, Malaysia, New Guinea, Persian Gulf, Sinai, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Timor Leste, and Tonga.
We also had many ex-pupils who were conscripted by ballot according to their birthdate (between 1948 & 1958) for National Service Training in the late-1960's and early-1970's. During their service time they were on standby for Vietnam if required.
To all ex-Spotswoodian serving and non-serving veterans we acknowledge your commitment to our country.